Thursday February 7 was the coolest day of our trip so far. It was 14C when we awoke and only briefly reached 18C by late afternoon. It was a travel day. We caught a 11:10 a.m. bus from Rotorua to Napier (a four hour trip with one half hour stop). We will be in Napier for four nights.
En route to catch the bus, we stopped at the Art Village Café, had a coffee and ordered a pulled pork sandwich to go.
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| Arts Village Café- good local Revolver coffee |
It was a very scenic bus ride through the countryside, often on narrow paths through the hills. Our bus driver drives 12 hours a day, 4 days a week. He had a mandated 30 minute stop at Taupo located on the very large Lake Taupo, a volcanic caldera.
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| At Lake Taupo |
We arrived in Napier at about 3:20 p.m. and it was just a 10 minute walk to the Hostel we are staying in called The Criterion Art Deco Backpackers. It is located in the former Criterion Hotel, a wonderful Spanish Mission / Art Deco style building. The Hostel itself is smaller and older than the one we stayed at in Rotorua, but the location can not be beat. We are two minutes from the amazing waterfront and the Hostel is located on one of the two streets that has the most Art Deco buildings in town.
Napier is the most architecturally complete Art Deco city in the world. It was built following the devastating 7.8 February 3, 1931 earthquake. About 250 people were killed in the earthquake and the town was destroyed. A decision was made to rebuild. The architects chose largely Art Deco style which was popular in the early 1930s. Some buildings were also done in Spanish Mission style and a few in Stripped Classical style. Since it was during the depression and many New Zealanders were unemployed, the city was able to attract skilled tradespeople to Napier and the town was rebuilt in only two years. Napier today has 140 original Art Deco Buildings. The population of Napier is around 62,000.
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| Outside our Hostel in the former Criterion Hotel - Hostel is on the second floor |
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| Entrance up the stairs |
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| One of the common rooms |
We headed out to the I-Site Tourism building, located on Marine Parade on the waterfront just a few minutes from the Hostel.
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| First view of the Deco structures on the waterfront |
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| I-Site Napier |
The I-Site folks were very helpful and we booked an Art Deco tour for Friday February 8 and a Wine Tour for Saturday February 9.
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| Nearby sculpture- The Gold of the Kowhai, 2014- Paul Dibble |
Since it was late afternoon and most of the cafés were closed (coffee shops and small local food places in New Zealand seem to open early at 7- 8 a.m. and close by 3:30-4:00 p.m.), we decided to wander around town.
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| Gorgeous Art Deco Masonic Hotel |
We decided to have dinner at Bistronomy, a place recommended by another restaurant that was booked for the evening already. It was just around the corner from where we are staying so we stopped in to make a reservation. It was located in a beautiful 1932 Art Deco building and featured modern New Zealand food.
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| Outside Bistronomy |
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| While we were there, we had a staff person take our picture wearing our Allbird shoes (made from New Zealand merino wool, which we got in New York in December) |
We passed a cool pub located in an ally called Who Shot The Barman?
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| Who Shot the Barman? |
We decided we need a treat, so we stopped at Mr. D- another wonderful looking and recommended restaurant. We decided to share one of their famous doughnuts, which one injects with either custard, jelly, or milk chocolate. We decided on jelly (no dairy).
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| Inside of restaurant - pre- dinner period |
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| Allan getting ready for the injection |
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| My turn to pose |
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| The actual injection |
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| Eating the very fluffy doughnut |
After that treat we wandered some more. The annual Napier Art Deco Festival takes place next weekend. People will come from all over for a weekend of events--- stores are already full of Art Deco costumes to rent or buy. The festival has been held since 1989.
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| Poster for this year's festival |
We went back to the waterfront which is lined with many Norfolk Island Pines, which I really like.
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| Norfolk Island Pine |
At 7:30 p.m., we went to Bistronomy for dinner. The place was buzzing.
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| Inside at Bistronomy |
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| Interesting beef carpaccio and octopus |
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| Chicken in an orange sauce |
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| Polenta fries and aioli |
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Great salad with cabbage and apple foam dressing
We had two glasses of a lovely Theory and Practice Syrah. Then it was time for an after dinner walk. We passed by the MTG building which houses a Museum, Theatre and Gallery.
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| One side of the building |
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| Fabulous Art Deco bandshell |
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Another view of the MTG building
The waterfront was quite deserted. Hawke Bay is very beautiful.
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| Alain just after sunset |
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| The beach- looking one way |
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| The other way |
There was a beautiful viewing structure on a pier.
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| In front of the sea |
It was now time for our Art Deco tour which left from the Art Deco Centre located on Marine Parade just a few minutes from where we are staying. Beth, our guide, has been a guide for over 10 years. She says there are over 70 volunteer guides that run a number of tours for the Art Deco Trust.
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| Outside the Art Deco Centre |
We first had a brief presentation about Napier before and after the earthquake. The February 3, 1931 earthquake lasted about 2.5 minutes and the ground heaved up around 2 metres. She showed us maps from 1865 and 1965, showing the areas that shifted from water to land. The earthquake measured 7.8 and after the initial destruction, fires raged in the city for 2 days. Very few buildings were saved except the large wooden houses in the suburbs in the hills.
Our guide showed us slides of the Art Deco features that we would see on our walk-- zig zags, ziggurats, liberated women, sunbursts, power symbols, fountain motifs, speedlines, geometric flowers, exaggerated fonts, and Mayan, Egyptian and Māori designs (unique for New Zealand Art Deco).
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| All the different Art Deco initia we would see on the walk |
We stopped for a moment at the statue across from the Art Deco Centre. The statue was of Lord Plunket, the Governor of the Colony in 1906. There were tablets commemorating the soldiers that fought in the Boer War (1899-1902). Our guide showed us a picture of the statue just after the 1931 earthquake. It was headless. Eventually, the head was found during some city construction many years later and it was eventually restored in 1947. Beth noted that the British lion survived the earthquake. She was a great storyteller.
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| Lord Plunket |
We then stopped at the Masonic Hotel, a superb example of Art Deco style. There had been an original hotel on the site (opened in 1861) that had been destroyed by fire in 1896. The Hotel was rebuild but was again destroyed by fire just after the earthquake. It was rebuild in 1932. The inside was more recently restored in 2012. The Emporium Eatery and Bar opened and was decorated in Art Deco style. It won New Zealand's Best Bar award in 2016.
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| Outside of the hotel |
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| Plaque setting out the history of the two fires |
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| Lots of royal visitors to the Hotel |
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| Beth, our guide, talking about the terrazzo and glass features |
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| Inside the bar- lots of memorabilia |
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| Beautiful lamp and card holder |
We then walked over to the ASB Bank building. The Bank is a supporter of the Art Deco Trust and has done an amazing job restoring the inside and the outside of the building. It is one of the few buildings in Napier with Māori Art Deco designs.
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| Māori designs on the walls and ceilings |
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| More detail |
As we continued our walk, our guide pointed out that there are now a number of women walking dog signals on the traffic lights instead of just men.
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| Progressive traffic sign with woman walking a dog |
On Emerson Street, just down from where we are staying was another Art Deco display.
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| Tree with changing attachments |
Beth also talked about the former Criterion Hotel, where we are staying. We then passed a building that had elements of Frank Lloyd Wright incorporated in it.
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| Frank Lloyd Wright elements |
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| More Deco buildings |
Also on Emerson street, was a statue of a woman waving with a dog. The statue had been erected about nine years ago and was modelled after a woman who was very popular in Napier just after the earthquake.
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| A Wave in Time: Sheila and Raven- Mark Whyte-February 2010 |
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| This boy across the street was added about 4 years ago. The statues look like they are waving at each other. Our guide had the picture of the 4 year old boy who was used as the model. |
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| More Deco |
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| These three buildings from left to right demonstrated a stripped classical style, Art Deco and Spanish Mission |
Our guide also pointed out patterns in the tiles in front of some of the stores. Owners were allowed to display tiles that had a link to the stores. Many have changed hands, but the interesting tiles remain. There were also Art Deco covers on the "manholes" on the street. Beth pointed out they are now called "inspection chambers."
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| A dog in front of a former pet store |
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| A duck representing the former owner- Mr. Duckworth. Art Deco "inspection chamber" |
We stopped to look at the former Napier Central Fire Station, a 1926 brick building which had been badly damaged during the earthquake. Rebuilt by local architect Louis Hay (one of the main architects of the rebuilt city and a big fan of Frank Lloyd Wright), it kept its original design. It still has the NFB (Napier Fire Board) logo on its face. It formerly housed the Art Deco Centre.
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| NFB building |
We stopped at the Public Trust Office. It was one of the handful of survivors of the 1931 earthquake. The Trust played an important role in helping Napier's business and citizens financially after the disaster. It opened in 1922, with a row of Doric columns. The Public Trust moved out in 1998 and for a while it housed a gym.
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| Former Public Trust Building |
We went into the Napier Municipal Theatre Building. The Theatre dated back to 1912 and the original building, designed in the Italian Renaissance style, was totally destroyed in the earthquake. It was rebuilt and opened for performances in 1938. The Council had skimped on the design and there were acoustic and other problems. A major redeveloped took place starting in 1992 with particular attention paid to the preservation and integration of its Art Deco heritage. Unfortunately, we couldn't go into the actual theatre as there was a rehearsal going on.
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| Outside of the Municipal Theatre building |
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| Stone laid by the "Mayoress" of Napier |
We had by now walked all the way down Emerson Street and had turned the corner to walk back to the Art Deco Centre. We had a good view of the houses in the suburbs in the hills, which had been made of wood and survived the earthquake.
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| Houses in the hills- the front five had been designed by the same architect |
We passed another 1931 building by Louis Hays which had some Frank Lloyd Wright elements.
We then headed back to the Art Deco Centre to watch a short film about the earthquake and its aftermath focussing on the rebuilding of the city.
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| Car outside Art Deco Centre used for tours |
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In the small screening room--Earthquake advice sign: Stay Calm
Our Guide told us there were over 2000 earthquakes in 2016 in Napier- many very small |
It was a fabulous 2.5 hour tour (including the film at the end). We got a very clear picture of what a 2.5 minute earthquake can do to a city and how its historic Art Deco heritage has been maintained, through the vigilance of the Art Deco Trust.
After the tour, we wandered down to Clive Square where there was live music and a number of food trucks. Lots of families hanging out in the sun. We even ran into a woman we had talked to on the bus down from Rotorua.
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| Lots of Art Deco lawyers Chambers in town-- we loved the name: Munster Chambers |
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| Folks enjoying the sun and music |
We headed back to the Hostel for a short rest and then went for a lovely dinner at Hunger Munger. I had a snapper broth with mussels, prawns and other white fish and Alain had a grilled John Dory fish with a number of salads.
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| Fish and Summer Fling cider |
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| Alain had a glass of a local Syrah |
We had a fabulous day in Art Deco Napier. The setting on Hawke Bay is magnificent and the heritage that sprang from the 1931 earthquake is remarkable. Downtown Napier has often been described as a 1930s movie set and there is definitely a lot of truth in that description. The food scene is also excellent- located in a major wine and agricultural area really helps. A definite change from the lack of good food in Rotorua. On February 9, we will go to a Farmer's market in the morning and a wine tour in the afternoon.
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